Writing | Posted by Carole on Tuesday 23 February 2010
I know I said I’d written the last blog on my writing process, but today I went into black dog books to have a look at the dyelines of my book Sugar Sugar. This is really the last stage before printing. The printer sends a copy of the book on sheets of paper as it will appear in the book. They haven’t been cut to size, but there are marks that show where it will be cut.
It is too late for the writer to make changes to the story at this stage. This is a last chance for the publisher to check that everything looks okay as it is laid out on the page. They are looking for line spaces that aren’t supposed to be there, missing chapter headers, or widows and orphans (a “widow” is the last line of a paragraph that appears alone at the top of the next page, and an “orphan” is the first line of a paragraph that appears alone at the bottom of a page). I went in to have a last look at the cover. The next time I see it, it will be an actual book.
This is Sophie from black dog books looking at the dyelines
Writing | Posted by Carole on Wednesday 17 February 2010
This is the sixth and last blog in a series about the way I write a book.
After the 3rd draft, there might be a 4th draft. By this stage I’m getting impatient to get it over and done with. The internal design has been submitted by the designers, changed, because we weren’t quite happy with it. Then the editor “pours” my text into the design.
Now it looks like a book for the first time, not just a pile of computer printout. The chapter titles have a particular style, the page numbers are there just like they will be in the book. This is called designed pages. For some reason, when I read it through at this stage, I notice all kinds of things I didn’t notice before. Errors and inconsistencies just leap out at me. So once again I get out the red pen and mark up the changes I want to make. My editor is closely involved at this stage.
I think of the editing process as being like combing tangled, knotted hair. Every time you go through it, it gets easier to pull the comb through, but when it’s almost done there are still some stubborn knots that got missed.
The cover is designed, the map has been completed. Everything is put together. There is no flexibility here. The printer has a schedule and this book has to be delivered on a set date. As that date approaches, I read through one more time. I am so sick of it by this time, I don’t ever want to read a word of it again! A printout of the book is sent to a proofreader who always finds errors! I write my acknowledgements for the “end matter” (as all the stuff at the back of a book is called).
Now the editor is doing final checks, and I’m not involved. She is checking that it all looks right on the page (no “widows” or “orphans”, and a lot of other stuff I don’t even know about). Then the file is uploaded to the printer. That’s it. It was a year and a half ago that I typed the first words. It’s finally gone.
People sometimes ask me how it feels when a book is finished. Satisfaction? Euphoria? No. Just absolute relief.
Writing | Posted by Carole on Wednesday 23 December 2009
This is the fifth in a series of blogs about the way I write a book.
So the day after I sent in my second draft, I got sick. That gives you some idea of the intensity of working on that draft. Fortunately, the third draft is a lot easier. I got back comments on the second draft from my publisher and my editor, and took in the changes that they requested. I think I have got the structure right and fixed the major issues that they had with the first draft, so at this stage it’s tinkering—making things clearer, adding detail, taking out unnecessary bits.
After that, I read it through again…and take in my own changes. It astonishes me that even after so many readings, there is still a lot of red ink on the copy I am reading through, as I reword sentences, and reorder paragraphs. I’m sure other writers don’t need to do as much rewriting as I do. I’m sure there are writers who can write perfect sentences from the word go, but that isn’t how it is for me.
At this stage I think about subplots and make sure that they are complete. Also have I followed through on the themes I have worked into the story?
With the book I am writing at the moment, it was only at this late stage that we finalised the title (it’s called Sugar, Sugar). For me, it’s only really when the book is finished that I get firm ideas about what the title should be. This one was particularly difficult.
I send the amended file back to the publisher. Meanwhile, other people are getting involved. Black dog books staff have sent off a design brief to the designers, and they are working on the cover and internal design. Someone else is drawing a map. (I love maps. Just about every book I’ve ever written contains at least one map.)
It’s past the point of no return for the story as a whole. Now I can relax…for a while.
Writing | Posted by Carole on Wednesday 18 November 2009
This is the fourth in a series of blogs about the way I write books. It’s been a while since I wrote the last one…that’s because I’ve been writing a second draft!
So after I send off my first draft to my publisher, he reads it, my editor reads it. And they write their comments on the manuscript (Andrew does it by hand on a printed copy, Karen does it electronically). That’s called a marked-up copy. They tell me what’s working, and what’s not. They say things like “How is your character feeling about what just happened?” or “I need more info about the place where this scene is taking place”. Usually every page has comments on it. Sometimes events aren’t clear enough. Sometimes I’ve spelled it out in too much detail and left nothing up to the reader’s imagination. In the book I’m writing, no one like the style of short sentences that I’d used.
So then I have to start work on the second draft, considering all these comments and changing things to correct the problems. Now, this can be a rewarding process. You can feel it improving. However, you haven’t got all the time in the world. People are often surprised when I say I have deadlines. They imagine that professional authors just take as long as they like to write a book. That isn’t the case. A publisher has to publish a number of books each year—20, 50, 200. They have to have a publication schedule to spread them out over the year, otherwise the manuscripts might all come in together and their staff would be working day and night at one stage and then sitting twiddling their thumbs at another. The first draft can be a bit more flexible timewise, but sooner or later the book is on the production schedule for the following year and there are deadlines for every stage.
I had a pretty tight deadline for the second draft (I’d had a month off to go overseas)—about 10 weeks. As this is my first Young Adult book, it is very important, and most of the other staff at black dog read the first draft and gave me written comments. Just to be on the safe side, I got my daughter Lili to read it too. I ended up with a lot of comments, and at times it was overwhelming. At times I thought “there’s too much that people aren’t happy with.” But I kept on working through it chapter by chapter, resolving the issues, making sure the reader could understand the character’s motivation.
The last chapters are always the most underdone, so I did a lot of rewriting there. I have five characters and I wanted to bring all their stories together in a satisfying way at the end. Without it being too neat and tied with a bow.
Then once again I read it though and mark changes in red. Things that I’m still having trouble resolving, I mark with a highlighter and put aside. I take in all the changes, page by page. I think about the subplots, and just look at the beats of those stories in isolation, as separate little stories, to see if there is enough, or too much. There might be more detail I have to find out, so I have to do more research.
Then I print it out again. This time I read it out aloud. This is not only about the story, it’s also about the way the words, the sentences, the paragraphs flow. There’s only so much I can read aloud at one time without zoning out, so with this book I did about five or six chapters a day. Again marking up changes. Reading in the morning, and taking in the changes in the afternoon.
I got to the day it had to be handed in (last Friday) and I was at the stage where I couldn’t bear to look at it for a moment longer. So I sent it off. Big relief.
Writing | Posted by Carole on Monday 6 July 2009
I recently had a query from Tristan Bancks (writer of the Mac Slater, Cool Hunter books) about how I keep my research in order. Actually, I’m not very good at keeping my research in order. I lose things all the time (eg. this morning). So I thought if I did a blog about it, someone might have suggestions for the perfect method.
I always have a notebook for each book I’m going to write. If I read something that might be useful, or see something on TV or if I just get an idea in the middle of the night, I right it down in the notebook. I take it with me if I go to the library to do some research. I also have a folder for each potential book. That’s where I keep magazine articles, photocopies from books, pictures, photos, pamphlets etc. I sometimes buy books on the subject or about the historical period as well. I end up with quite a lot of stuff.
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I might be writing one book and thinking about another, so I don’t want things to get confused, so I have an archive box for each project and all the books, notes, folders for each book go in the box. Then I only have one place to look for something.
Trouble is the box gets in a mess and the thing I want is always down the bottom. This is the box for the book I’m writing at the moment. Not very neat as you can see.
I also keen research info on my computer. I have a new(ish) writing program called Scrivener which I really like. There is a panel down the lefthand side where you can have links to pictures, websites, research notes etc. I have a timeline there, character notes, my synopsis of the story, plus reference photos I’ve taken. I find that’s really good, but I can’t scan everything, so I still have the box.
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The only time I was really organised was when I was writing Dragon Companion. I had so many notes I had to be organised. I put them all in alphabetical order. This is about half the folders I have.
I certainly don’t have the definitive research storage method. Any suggestions welcome.
Writing | Posted by Carole on Friday 5 June 2009
This is the third in a series of blogs about the way I write books.
So assuming my publisher didn’t hate my synopsis, it’s time to start writing. For me, this initial draft is the hardest part of the process. I can easily talk myself into doing a bit more planning or a bit more research. Eventually, I put the first words on the page. It’s painful. (And yes, I use a computer. No one can read my writing. Not even me.) I make myself write 1000 words a day. It doesn’t matter if it’s dreadful writing (and it often is), as long as I’m making my way through the story. I cringe at what I’m writing down. I really don’t like this part of the writing process, but I keep going. Sometimes it takes me three hours to write my 1000 words, sometimes it takes all day.
Along the way, ideas in the synopsis change. Not the big things usually. But often things I’ve imagined will work, don’t. It might not be believable or the timeline of the story might not work (too much happening or not enough) or I just come up with a better idea. Almost every day there are decisions to make. Big picture ones: How will I make that bit of the story work? How will the character react? Or small detail ones: What is in her suitcase? Why did they decide to go to the beach? (These are actual questions from the novel I’m writing now). This happens every day. Every day, I write up the questions I need to answer on my whiteboard.
I answer the questions first thing in the morning, which is when my brain is at its sharpest. I write as many different ways as I can think of to answer each question. (Yes this is a Robert McKee technique!) I write them on the whiteboard, not on my computer. Sometimes I get to 15 options, sometimes I only get to three. Then I stand back and see if there is a good, fresh, interesting, non-cliched solution among them. Sometimes two ideas put together solve the problem.
Every couple of weeks I print out what I’ve written and reread it. I write corrections all over it in red. I add bits, I cross out bits, I move bits around. Occasionally I can see a theme starting to form and I make a note of that, so that I can work on that later. I reread and correct again and again.
An example of me correcting my own work
I stole the term “Zero Draft” from YA author Scott Westerfeld. I think it’s a great way of describing that initial draft. I wouldn’t show it to anyone. It’s too rough. I can hardly bear to read it myself. I suppose it’s a bit like a rough sketch for a painting. Except it takes ages to write, six months or longer. I’ve just about come to the end of this process with the book I’m writing at the moment.
Eventually I’m ready to show it to someone else—my publisher if I think it’s ready to show him, or my daughter Lili if I’m still not happy with it. It has now evolved from a Zero Draft to a First Draft. By this time I have reread and corrected it at least ten times.
Writing | Posted by Carole on Monday 30 March 2009
This is the second in a series of blogs about the way I write. It’s not the only way to write a book. It’s just my way.
So I’ve already got a premise, a story idea. I’ve worked out when and where the story is set. I’ve got a main character. That’s when I start the major research. I now start reading about what life was like at that specific place at that particular time in history. I have to know what sort of clothes they wore, what food they ate, everything about everyday life then. I take lots of notes. I’m also still looking out for additional story ideas or characters that will make my book more interesting that come from actual history.
I like to find pictures to inspire me. So, I find photos of landscape, if it’s not changed too much over time. I find paintings that were painted at the time. And I find pictures of things that were made at the time—furniture, clothing, dishes—in museum and exhibition catalogues.
By that time I hope that the story is clear in my head and I write down a synopsis of it—a short summary of the story. It might take a page, it might be three pages. Sometimes I do a plot diagram, and see if there are turning points in my story. Are there enough things happening to keep the story interesting all the way through? Does the main character develop and change? Sometimes I can see that there are some boring bits, and I have to think up ways of making that section more interesting.
When I’ve done that, I send the synopsis off to my publisher and say “This is the book I’d like to write next. What do you think?”
Writing | Posted by Carole on Friday 20 February 2009
I’m writing a book at the moment, and it’s going to take me about a year. I don’t like talking about my books as I’m writing them. It’s a superstitious thing. So I thought that I might do a series of blogs about my writing process. How it works for me.
I usually start with a very vague idea, eg “I’m going to write a book set in ancient Egypt”. So the first thing I have to do is think of a story. If it’s a historical book, I like to get some ideas from history. So I read some history books.
At first, I thought the ancient Egyptian book was going to be about cat mummies, so I read all about cat mummies and cat worship, but I couldn’t work out a good story. (It wasn’t all a waste of time, I used some of the cat information in the second book, Ramose and the Tombrobbers, which has a cat mummy, or half of one at least, on the cover. I also wrote a short story about cat mummies which ended up in the anthology called short.)
The story of Ramose that I did end up writing was inspired by a couple of things that actually happened—a Prince who disappeared, palace murder plots. That gave me the idea for the premise. That’s the starting point of the story, the set of circumstances that cause the story to begin.
Some early notes while I was thinking about Ramose.
In Dragonkeeper, the premise was “this is a version of ancient China where dragons exist. A bad dragonkeeper doesn’t do his job properly and a dragon dies. He has to get rid of the evidence.” I didn’t have the whole story, that was yet to come. I just had the beginning.
Some people are surprised that I didn’t make up the way that the bad dragonkeeper got rid of the dead dragon. If you want to know where I got that idea from you can find out here.
This is an important stage of the writing process, even though at this stage I’m just thinking. It needs to be leisurely, unrushed, no deadlines. I usually do this while I’m writing another book. Not while I’m actually typing at the keyboard, but in my spare moments or when I get sick of writing (about lunchtime). I might jot down some notes, that’s about it. It will be months, occasionally years, before I begin writing the new book. The ideas come and go. Some hang around. They’re the ones that end up in the book.
Since Dragon Moon was published, I’ve had quite a lot of emails and blog comments asking me to write a fourth Dragonkeeper book. I always say the same thing. It’s not going to happen. I don’t want to write a fourth book. After all her adventures, I think Ping should have a nice quiet life. She deserves it.
Some people get quite cross with me. They seem to think I’m just being difficult. Or they think I’ve run out of ideas. It’s neither of those things. It’s wonderful that people liked the books so much that they want more. But if my heart isn’t in it, it wouldn’t be any good anyway.
Writing a novel takes a lot of time, about a year for one of my books. It can be stressful, getting it all to work. You have to slog away at it every day, whether you feel like it or not, whether it’s working or not. So it has to be something that I want to write. I know that sounds selfish, but for me it’s the only way to do it.
I’m not the only one that feels that way. I heard Graeme Base talking on the radio the other week and he said the same thing. “I never do market research,” he said. “I just do the stuff that I feel suddenly inspired by and that I will get joy from doing and which I honestly believe is worth two years of my time.”
You never know if a book is going to be successful. I only write the stories that I really want to write, that I have to write, that I would still think were worth all the effort, even if they didn’t do well.
So I haven’t run out of ideas. I’ve just got different ideas. What I’ve run out of is enthusiasm for continuing that story with those characters. And even if someone did write to me and give me a fabulous idea for a fourth book, I couldn’t use it, because it wouldn’t be my story. (And if it was a big hit, bigger than Harry Potter and I got a seven picture deal and became a millionaire, then the person who gave me the idea would sue me!) I have to stick with my own ideas.
The interview with Graeme Base, was on Life Matters on ABC Radio National on 5 Nov and you can listen to a podcast of the full interview.
Writing | Posted by Carole on Thursday 24 April 2008
I’ve recently had a number of emails from young writers asking for advice on how to improve their writing. They seem to think that because I write books, and some of them have been successful, I can explain how to write a successful book. If only it were that easy. The truth is, I can’t tell you why one book is popular and another isn’t. There isn’t a formula to learn like in maths or physics.
I am not an expert on writing. I am just a writer. I don’t feel comfortable giving advice about something that I am still learning. But since people have asked, I will have a go.
Firstly, I have already written some stuff in my FAQs, but no one seems to read that!
The way to improve your writing is to write. Write, write, write and then write some more. Practice is what makes you a better writer. If you wanted to be an Olympic gymnast or an AFL footballer, you wouldn’t expect to walk out onto the mat/football field and be an expert immediately. You know you would have to train for years. It’s the same with writing. A few writers have great success with their first novel, but more than likely they have spent a long time writing and rewriting it, perhaps writing other unpublished things first.
I started off writing short stories. That worked for me. It gave me practice at writing. I tried different types of stories. I tried to get them published, to see which ones people liked. Then after a couple of years, I tried writing a novel. It took me two years. It was terrible. It was never published (thank goodness!). I kept writing all kinds of things—TV scripts, newspaper articles, brochures, more short stories. It was all good practice. It was eight years before my first book was published.
The other question I get asked is “How do I make my story longer?” The short answer is, you can’t. A story is as long as it takes to tell. That may be six paragraphs or 600 pages. If you try and stretch a story, it just gets boring. If you want to write a longer story, my advice would be to spend some time plotting it before you start. I don’t start writing until I have a beginning, middle and end to a story. Then I write a synopsis of about three pages. It might take me two months to come up with those three pages. Then I start to write the novel. That will take me about a year, and that’s writing every day. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes I feel like I can’t do it.
I know J K Rowling and Christopher Paulini became millionaires with their first books. But that isn’t what usually happens. Writing isn’t a way to earn a quick million. And this is my last and most important piece of advice—Only write if you love writing. If you haven’t got the patience to write lots, then writing probably isn’t for you. You have to do it because you love it, not because you want to be rich and famous. You have to be prepared for the hard slog.
I have some more advice here on how to improve your writing. Also here. There are links to other authors’ advice as well. You might also want to read this.
I hope I haven’t made writing sound too hard. There are times when it’s wonderful—you get a great idea, or write a terrific paragraph, or think of a fabulous turning point, or someone tells you how much they enjoyed reading your work. Then it’s the best thing in the world.
Good luck to all the writers out there. Keep at it.
